


Paces of Love

by LondonFan



Category: British Actor RPF, Richlee - Fandom
Genre: Cuddling, Established Relationship, Fluff, I waaaarned you - so much fluff, M/M, Massages, Slow Dancing, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, and surprises. for both of them.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-11 12:59:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3327713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LondonFan/pseuds/LondonFan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What with Lee filming in a different state, Richard can't see him on Valentine's Day. Or can he?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paces of Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yuuwaku](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuwaku/gifts).



> Thanks to the lovely yuuwaku here on AO3, I wrote a short little thing for Valentine's Day. As you may have guessed, it's fluff. :')  
> The timeline is a little off, I guess - Lee isn't filming HACF at the moment, is he? But let's disregard that for the sake of the story. ;)  
> Huge thanks to my beta bellatrixdraven on tumblr!  
> Oh, and by the way - there is a mention of "their song" in there, and I listened to it while writing, and I imagined this song: youtube.com/watch?v=geTqGyXopa4  
> Enjoy!

“Hey, Richard. Good to see you!” Lee’s face appears on Richard’s laptop screen only moments after he has accepted the  _Skype_ video call. Lee looks tired and pale, but there’s a smile playing around his lips – weak but genuine – and Richard can’t help but smile back.

“Hello, love,” he replies quietly. “How was your day?”

Lee rubs a hand over his face and stifles a yawn. “Exhausting.” He’s currently in Atlanta, filming the second season of  _Halt And Catch Fire_  and he has been working non-stop. Since Richard had to stay home for several interviews, recordings and other appointments, they agreed to Skype every night – just to see each other and have a little chat. They do miss each other terribly, and every time Richard sees Lee on screen or hears his voice or gets a cute little text, his heart swells but at the same time it just hurts so much because he can’t hug him, kiss him, or cuddle with him.

“You do look tired,” Richard says, voice heavy with worry. He extends a hand, gently reaching out for Lee’s face on the screen as if he could indeed run a finger over Lee’s cheek. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Lee closes his eyes. “I have to be. It’s my job after all. But I’m good. I’ll have a day off on the 14th, so I should be good.” His eyes blink open again and he looks at Richard. “I miss you,” he whispers, his voice faltering.

Richard feels a lump in his throat and he clenches his jaw. “I miss you, too. God, I miss you so  _much_.” While they have been separated on several occasions before due to filming or other projects, it still hurts, it’s still difficult to be away from each other for so long.

“I wish we could see each other on Valentine’s Day. Especially since I have a day off. It won’t be the same without you.” Lee picks at his fingers, gaze averted. He sounds sad.

“We’ll have another video chat,” Richard promises quietly and worries his bottom lip. “And when you get back, we’ll have our own special Valentine’s Day. I promise.”

Lee huffs a laugh and looks at Richard. “Still. It’s not the same. I want you here, I want you in my arms. I don’t want miles and miles between us. I want your breath on my skin, my lips on yours, your hand in mine.” He squeezes his eyes shut and it pains Richard to see Lee like this. “It just  _hurts_  so much.”

“I know,” Richard replies, “I feel the same.”

“That doesn’t help, though.”

“No.”

For a couple of minutes, they sit in silence, just looking at each other on the screen. Richard desperately wants to reach out, to touch, to kiss, but he can’t. Lee finds himself unable to say anything that would lighten the mood. Here they are, a happy couple, so in love that they can’t bear to be separated, yet they don’t know what to say or do.

“I’d best hang up, now, though,” Lee mumbles after a bit. “It’s getting late and I need to be on set early in the morning.”

“Yeah.” Richard clears his throat. “Have fun tomorrow. I love you.”

“I love you, too.” Lee smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Maybe he’s too tired, maybe he’s too sad, and Richard wants nothing more than to put a genuine smile back on his face. Lee blows him a kiss, and Richard does the same, then the screen goes black. Richard’s mobile beeps, a text from Lee:  _I love you and miss you. xx_

Richard goes to bed with a tear rolling down his cheek.

~*~

He can’t sleep that night.

When the clock on the wall shows him that it’s midnight, he gets out of bed, boots up his laptop and, following an impulse, books a flight ticket to Atlanta, leaving in six hours. He phones Lee’s agent, who luckily still is awake, for whatever reason, and tells her he’s coming. She seems surprised at first, but agrees to tell Lee nothing. It’s supposed to be a surprise, after all.

Richard carelessly throws some clothes into a bag, packs the gift he meant to give to Lee upon his return and sets his alarm clock so he can wake up in time. Then he lays down for a little snooze before he has to rush to the airport to catch his flight.

~*~

The flight goes by quickly, mainly granted to the fact that Richard fell asleep. When he gets off the plane in Atlanta, he puts on his sunglasses and a hat – he really doesn’t want to be recognised right now – and heads out of the airport. Lee’s agent is there, too – she’s offered to pick him up, and he gladly accepted. They drive to Lee’s hotel (and thanks to his manager, Richard has a room there now as well) where she hands him the key to Lee's room and winks at him before returning to her own room.

Richard rubs his hands in a thrill of anticipation.

Lee doesn’t know he’s here and won’t know until tomorrow, and since he’s out on set, Richard has all the time in the world to prepare his room.

Lee has left his hotel room in utter chaos. Richard raises an eyebrow at the clothes splayed all over the floor and the bed and the chairs, he wrinkles his nose at the empty water bottles laying everywhere. Either Lee was too lazy, or always in a hurry.  Richard guesses it’s the latter. While it’s true that he usually is the one that cleans in their house, Lee also cares about tidiness. Or maybe Lee just couldn’t be bothered to do anything – because he missed Richard?

With a sigh, Richard carefully blazes a trail through the mess to Lee’s bed, where he finds a framed picture of them on the bedside table. He already wondered where it had gone, but to see that Lee took it as a memory makes his heart skip a beat. He grabs the photo and sits down on the bed, looking at it fondly. It had been taken on their first anniversary, when they went stargazing in New Zealand.

Richard puts it back and decides to nose Lee’s pillow. It does smell like him, and Richard closes his eyes for a second, letting Lee’s scent encompass him and bring back all the memories of being snuggled up to him, nose buried in the crook of his neck, just  _breathing_. He desperately wishes for the pillow to turn into Lee, but naturally it doesn’t happen, and it takes all the strength he can muster not to press a kiss atop the pillow.

He’d never thought he could miss a person as much as he misses Lee right now – but then again, everything is different with Lee. Richard has never before felt so much love and admiration for one person, no-one has ever made him as happy as Lee does. He’s just perfect, Richard thinks, and he never ever wants to lose him. He’s made his life complete. There is nothing else that Richard needs.

Even though it is hard to stop nuzzling Lee’s pillow and thinking about him, Richard still has something to do. He has prepared several little surprises for Lee and he needs to plant them before said man returns. He knows Lee will probably be extremely tired again, so he places little pieces of paper with loving messages everywhere where Lee will go the next morning.

A little note that reads ‘ _I love your smile_ ' he places in Lee's toothbrush mug, another one with a heart and the inscription ' _I love you so much’_ he puts into Lee’s coffee mug. He pins one saying ‘ _I’ve never been so certain of anything in my life like I am of us._ ' on the photo on the bedside table, another one reading ' _You’re the reason why I’m breathing_ ' he sticks to the window. He tapes one carefully onto some pages of Lee's script of the show he's filming. It says, ' _If you were a library book, I’d never give you back_.’ To the bathroom mirror he glues a note carrying the words ‘ _You look great today. How did I know? Because you look great every day!’._

When Richard is done placing the little love notes everywhere Lee is _not_ going to see them before the next morning, he calls room service and orders a breakfast in bed, complete with a red rose. Lee said he wanted to sleep in late but Richard knows he won’t be able to – when Lee has had a stressful week, he usually gets up at the same time like on the other days, simply because his internal clock wakes him up then. To be safe, he orders it for 8 AM, a little later than Lee usually has to wake up.

The other things he’s planned for tomorrow are already organised and finished. Richard wants to make this day special for Lee, to make up for all the time they’ve lost in the last couple of weeks. He looks around the room one last time, nods approvingly and then leaves. He walks over to his own hotel room, puts his clothes in the closet and takes out the presents for Lee so he can grab them easily the next day.

Lee’s agent knocks at his door a little while later, saying she’s headed to the set now to confirm several things with Lee. She asks Richard if he wants to come along – and of course, he agrees. He climbs into her car and slumps down on the back seat. He’s grateful for the tinted windows so Lee won’t be able to see him when they pull up on set.

But he can see Lee.

The second his eyes catch a glimpse at him, his heart speeds up, and the butterflies in his tummy start moving. Oh, how Richard  _longs_  to jump out of the car, to run up to Lee and kiss him in front of all these people, but he forces himself to stay quiet and hidden, to not spoil the surprise.

Lee is standing in the middle of the set – a parking lot, it seems, taking directions from the people surrounding him. He nods sometimes, makes his own suggestions and gets into character in the blink of an eye. He looks handsome in his suit, Richard notes, but he also looks tired. They must have been filming the same scene over and over again for hours.

Lee’s agent hops out of the car, quickly chats with him, has him sign something and then returns.

“How is he?” Richard asks.

“He misses you,” is her only answer, but she sounds sympathetic. Richard smiles weakly.

When they drive off, the camera is already rolling again, and Lee is not Lee Pace anymore, he’s Joe McMillan. Richard watches him until they turn a corner and he disappears from his sight.

And then, there’s nothing left to do but wait.

~*~

When Richard wakes up the next morning, his mobile shows him two missed calls and several texts – all from Lee.

**13 th Feb, 11:50PM**  _Sorry, love, I just came home, I couldn’t call earlier. I need to go to bed. We talk tomorrow, yeah? Love you xxx_

**14 th Feb, 01:06AM** _Can’t sleep. Miss you._

**14 th Feb, 01:10AM**  _It’s Valentine’s Day. You’re not here. Terrible feeling. Bed’s too empty without you._

**14 th Feb, 07:40AM**  _Guess that was it. Can’t sleep any longer. Hope you wake up soon. I need to see you. Even if it’s only online. xxx_

**14 th Feb, 07:45AM**  _Just had a look at our anniversary photo. Didn’t know you put a note on it. Haven’t seen it either til now. You’re too cute. I love you. You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. :*_

**14 th Feb, 07:50AM**  _Rich, why are there some sticky notes in the bedroom of my hotel?_

**14 th Feb, 07:59AM** _B_ _abe, I just got breakfast I didn’t order. With a rose. Did you call the hotel and arrange that? God, have I told you that I love you? xxxxxx_

**14 th Feb, 08:12AM**  _There are little notes in the bathroom as well. What._

**_One missed call from “Lee Pace ♥” - 14_ _th_ _February, 08:12 AM_ **

**_One missed call from “Lee Pace ♥” - 14_ _th_ _February, 08:13 AM_ **

**14 th Feb, 08:13AM**  _I’m hopping into the shower now, and then I’ll call you, and then you’ll explain what the heck is going on here. xx_

That is Richard’s cue.

He hops out of bed, puts on his bathrobe – and nothing else.  He sneaks out of his own room and rushes over the hall to get to Lee’s apartment. The door is open and he sends a mental thank-you to Lee’s agent before sneaking in and closing the door silently.

The sticky notes are all piled up on the bedside table next to their photo, and the rose has been put into a vase. Richard smiles. So Lee really did like them. Wonderful.

He quickly sheds his bathrobe and his pants, drops them on the floor and tiptoes into the bathroom. The door is invitingly ajar and the water is running in the shower already so Lee really doesn’t hear him. The shower curtain is drawn shut, but Richard can see the outlines of Lee’s body through it anyway. Lee is humming a melody – _their_ song, Richard realises. He takes one deep breath before carefully pulling the curtain aside and stepping into the shower with Lee.

“ _OH MY GOD!_ ”

“Holy  _shit!”_

Lee stares at Richard with his eyes and mouth wide open, panting heavily. Richard stands and glares at Lee, with some sort of accusation in his eyes, arms clasped around his body.

“What are you  _doing_  here?”

“Since when do you shower with  _ice cold water_?”

“Oh God, Richard.” Lee takes one step and crushes Richard against his chest, hugging him tightly. “Richard. Richard. Richard.” He presses him even closer, kissing his brow, his hair, his temples. Richard still trembles a little thanks to the cold water running down his back, but he wraps his arms around Lee’s waist and tightens the embrace.

The warmth radiating from Lee’s body helps him to ignore the cold droplets spraying down on them, and oh, it just feels so  _amazing_  to have the man he loves in his arms again.

“God, please tell me I’m not dreaming,” Lee whispers into his ear, and Richard feels something warm and wet on his cheek. Is Lee crying? He pulls back to look at him, and he  _is_ , and seeing him like this makes Richard want to cry to, but instead, he cradles Lee’s head with his hands and kisses him tenderly, and Lee makes a soft noise and here they are,  _finally_  reunited.

Richard’s knees give in and he sinks down to the floor, carefully pulling Lee with him.

“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Lee asks again, “because if I am, please don’t wake me up.”

Richard shakes his head. “No. I’m here. It’s real.” He kisses Lee’s nose and then his cheeks, and Lee breaks into a smile.

“You’re really here,” he says in amazement and then leans in to kiss Richard again.

“I am,” Richard agrees with a laugh and reaches up to turn off the shower. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” He kisses Lee between the eyes. “Let’s get you dried off,” he suggests and Lee complains with a moan.

“I’d rather just sit here and kiss you all day.”

“I’d like that, too, but I doubt you want to catch a cold, do you?” Richard softly tugs him upwards and Lee follows him. Richard grabs a towel from the nearby towel rack and starts to rub it over Lee’s shoulders. Lee relaxes against him while he dries off his hair, his back, his arms and reluctantly lets himself be turned around so Richard can towel off his chest and torso.

When they’re both dry, they lie down on the bed together, facing each other, Lee pulling Richard as close as possible. “Why are you here?” he asks and buries his nose in Richard’s hair. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“I missed you,” Richard simply says. “So I booked a flight, and came here.” He looks up at Lee and nibbles gently at his bottom lip.

Lee sighs happily and scoots a little lower so that his nose bumps Richard’s. “I missed you, too,” he whispers, “and this is the best surprise I’ve ever gotten. Even though it was rather scary how you freaked out in the shower.” He grins.

Richard glares at him. “You  _never_  shower with cold water. That took me by surprise. I didn’t want to enter with a shriek, really, I didn’t.” He trails a finger down Lee’s nose and nudges the tip. Lee giggles and snuggles closer to Richard.

“I’m so glad you’re here, babe,” Lee says softly and smiles. Richard answers by kissing him.

This feels right, the two of them together, in each other’s arms. This is where they belong, this is home. Richard sighs happily and pulls Lee even closer. “I haven’t even asked yet - how are you, darling?”

“Ugh,” Lee groans and stretches. “I’m still so sore from all these days of filming. My back and feet hurt from all that standing and running around.” He pouts.

“Aww, poor darling,” Richard smirks and kisses his bottom lip. “Come on, turn around, I’ll give you a massage.”

Lee does as told and turns to lie on his tummy, but then angles his head around and squints at him. “Are you sure that is the only thing you’re implying?”

Richard laughs. “Yes. Wouldn’t want to make you any more sore,” he mumbles with a wink and switches into a comfortable sitting position.

“Pity,” Lee complains with a sigh, puts his head on the pillow and closes his eyes. Richard chuckles, leaning forward and kissing Lee softly on his cheek. He then starts to rub gentle circles over his neck, his shoulders, down his back and up again, softly kneading the muscles to relax them a little.

“You really are quite tense,” he says with a worried frown. “What did they do to you?”

Richard goes up to Lee’s shoulders, taking the soft tissue at the juncture between neck and shoulder blade between his fingers and the balls of his hand, tugging and pushing carefully, and Lee moans. “More,” he demands, and Richard happily complies. He intensifies the pressure on the muscles, to reach the deeper fascia, then moves down, following the shoulder blade. He rotates the knuckles of his fingers, gently digging into Lee’s flesh, slowly but steadily releasing muscle knots. Lee mumbles something incoherent, but it sounds as if he’s enjoying it.

With long, gliding strokes, Richard covers the rest of Lee’s back, kneading the individual muscles thoroughly. He then starts working on Lee’s legs, fingers pressing hard into the muscles there to loosen them up. He also massages Lee’s feet gently, and when he’s done, he starts tickling him. Lee is extremely ticklish, especially at his feet, and soon enough, Richard has reduced Lee into a puddle of giggles and gasping.

“Stop that,” he begs, tears of laughter streaming down his cheeks, and Richard decides to be nice and goes back to stroking the muscles to calm them down. Lastly, he taps every muscle he’s worked on with his finger tips to release the lymphatic build up in the back and relax the muscles even further.

Richard flops down onto Lee, his chest pressed to Lee’s back, and he nibbles at Lee’s ear lobe.

“That was amazing,” Lee mumbles and sighs in content. “Can I hire you as my personal massage therapist, please?” He wiggles his butt around a little to tease Richard.

“Oy.” Richard gently bites Lee’s shoulder without hurting him. “What are you doing?” he asks with a smirk.

“What do you think I’m doing?” Lee replies tauntingly, smirking a little, repeating the movement.

“Oooh, you’re a bad boy,” Richard all but growls. When Lee turns around to lie on his back, Richard captures his lips in a passionate kiss, trailing his hands down Lee’s chest and back up again, and when Lee rakes his fingers over Richard’s back, their kiss grows heated, and when the two of them become one, nothing else matters.

~*~

Afterwards, they lie impossibly close to each other, Lee’s legs wrapped around Richard’s, Richard’s hand tousling Lee’s hair, and they’re kissing each other languidly and lazy.

“I love you,” Lee murmurs, nuzzling Richard’s cheek.

“I love you, too,” Richard replies, kissing the tip of Lee’s nose. “And now get dressed,” Richard says, slapping Lee’s behind. “I meant to take you out for dinner.”

~*~

They have a lovely dinner in a sweet little restaurant in Atlanta. It’s kind of hidden away from the public, located in a small street just off the main road, so they have a little time for themselves. The food is delicious, but they keep looking at each other, smiling and grinning, instead of eating.

Afterwards, they walk through one of Atlanta’s countless parks, and they are alone. Most people seem to be out for their Valentine’s dinner, so the park is fairly empty. Richard points at the night sky where some stars have begun to appear and Lee puts an arm around him and his head on Richard’s shoulder and they stand like that for a while.

“Dance with me,” Richard says suddenly, his voice a mere whisper.

“But we don’t have any music,” Lee replies, smiling.

“Then let’s make our own music.” And with that, Richard takes Lee’s hands and starts to lead him in a slow waltz, humming a sweet little melody. It's their song. He looks at Lee, with eyes so warm and soft, and so full of love, that he can’t help but kiss him quickly and then smile. Richard starts smiling, too, and they dance on the dew-damp grass, under the black as ink sky, their hearts beating in time with Richard’s melody. They dance, and dance, and dance, eyes locked, fingers entwined, and this night is the most magical they ever experienced.

When they stop, breathless, drunk on love, Lee touches their foreheads together and says softly, “Thanks, Rich. This was the most amazing Valentine’s Day ever. I just need you with me, and I’m the happiest person on earth.”

Richard kisses him softly. “It’s not over yet.”

“Oooh,” Lee says flirtingly, wiggling his eyebrows. “Are you up for another round then?”

Richard just smiles and shakes his head in amusement, then puts a finger to Lee’s lips. “There’s one thing I meant to give you, Lee.”

“But you’ve already given me everything I could possibly want!”

“Shh,” Richard whispers, gently running a finger over Lee’s lips. “Just… just accept it.” He takes a step back and pulls out a little box from out of his jeans. Lee frowns at it, but Richard just keeps smiling ominously.

“Lee Pace,” he says in a low voice, “I don’t know if I show you enough how much you mean to me and how much I love you. Every single day I see you, touch you, speak to you, I am grateful for you. I do not know what I’ve done to deserve you, or why you chose me – but I’ll do my best to keep it that way.” He clears his throat, nervously fiddling with the box behind his back. “I fell in love with you because of all the little things you never notice you do – biting your lip when you’re flirting, ruffling your hair when you’re nervous, poking out your tongue when concentrating. I fell in love with your eyes, your lips, your voice. And every time I look at you, I fall in love all over again.”

“Oh, darling,” Lee breathes.

“Time stands still every time you are in my arms, and thus, I want to ask you…” Richard stops and gets down on one knee. Lee’s left hand flies up to his mouth as he squeaks something that sounds suspiciously like ‘Oh my God’.

Richard looks up at Lee, a smile tugging at his lips. “Lee Grinner Pace,” he continues, “would you do me the honour of marrying me?” He flips open the box to reveal a beautiful engagement ring, and Lee just drops down to the ground and smothers Richard with kisses.

“I take that as a yes,” Richard laughs when Lee starts kissing his cheeks and his nose and the rest of his face and Lee nods feverishly while continuing to kiss every bit of Richard’s skin.

Richard slips the ring on Lee’s finger, and Lee pulls him into a hug, whispering how much he loves him and how much Richard is the most perfect partner he could wish for, and Richard just holds him tightly.

They’re finally found their happiness, in the arms of each other, and the stars are their silent witnesses that night.

**Happy Valentine's Day.**

 

 

 

 


End file.
